TTIP

Back when I was living in Vietnam, I bought and cooked a pale looking chicken, which left large rashes over my hands. I never got to know what exactly caused this reaction, but this experience reinforced my cautiousness regarding transformed foodstuff and my aversion for chlorine chicken. This feeling is shared by many across Europe, including in the UK where 82% of the population recently declared they would rather ditch a trade deal with the US than let chlorine chicken into their plates. However, this agreement is very likely to happen, and citizens may not have a say in the matter.

TTIP and CETA have stirred up quite a debate lately. Less discussed is the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), a trade deal for global services negotiated among the EU and 22 other countries since 2013. The EU should take firmer action in defending its values regarding corporate power and global cooperation.

With the political and social challenges currently faced by the EU, as well as the threats of disintegration, it is essential to re-access the existing structures from several angles, namely its trade policy. One of the largest free trade agreements – TTIP is hotly under debate and CETA has been approved by the EU parliament. But should these be the fundamental and primary focus of the EU in this field for a healthy future of the Union and its citizens? Wouldn’t it be more important to, instead of aiming towards big free trade agreements, focus first on how trade is done: its sustainability, development, justice and fairness?

Being designed to promote trade and multilateral economic growth, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a proposed trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. In its essence, the agreement aims to boost the trade by removing trade barriers as well as to expand corporate profits through the standardization of the legal regulations in the US and EU.

The agricultural sector encounters undoubtedly a form of crisis in Europe. In France, hundreds of farmers continue to unleash a torrent of almost daily protests against the collapse of milk and pork prices. In Italy, the situation is alarming too. Last year, Coldiretti, Europe’s largest agricultural professional organisation, rang an alarm bell: agriculture may disappear in thirty-two years in Italy.

Experiencing a period of economic stagnation, the European Union (EU) has started to look for different ways to enhance its economic growth rates. One solution is represented by the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). However, this solution is also one of the most debated issues within the circles of economists due to economic and social costs at stake. Among these costs, the issues of corruption and corporatism should not be neglected. Although they do not make the TTIP-related headlines, these issues are very important because they could minimize and even overcome the positive effects of trade liberalisation.